2008 Honda S2000 CR

Honda builds a track toy as a retirement gift to its most revered engineer, and you can buy a copy.

What's your idea of retirement planning? At Car and Driver, our scribblers spend their golden years counting their air miles and grousing about the web interns. If you're Shigeru Uehara, Honda R&D's Executive Chief Engineer, you spend your last year on the job building a track-ready special-edition version of the S2000.

Lots of engineers build track toys, but not many get their cars approved for production. Uehara isn't just any engineer, though; he's credited as the father of the Honda S2000 and the Acura NSX and Integra Type R, the trio that convinced a generation of American tuners and enthusiasts that Honda is a legitimate performance car company. Uehara's legacy is solid, so he doesn't need to work on the NSX's successor—he said through an interpreter that he's leaving that to the next generation. Instead, his final gift to the enthusiast world is the S2000 CR.

Suspension and steering modifications

The S2000 CR has the same 237-hp, 2.2-liter engine as other S2000s, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's just a dress-up job. The most dramatic changes involve springs and shocks that Honda calls "significantly stiffer." Although no figures are available, our experience with Uehara's other creations like the Acura Integra Type R tells us that he knows the meaning of "significant." Thicker anti-roll bars round out the suspension changes. A quicker steering ratio will allow drivers to avoid shuffling hands in tight corners. A limited slip differential and defeatable electronic stability control carry over from the regular S2000.

Tires

The S2000 CR's biggest handling gain over the regular S2000 may come from gumball Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires similar to those used on the former Japanese-market NSX-R. The 215/45R-17 front and 255/40R-17 rear tires have a treadwear rating of 140, which means they're barely able to be called conventional street tires.

Front and rear spoilers

A ludicrously large body kit and a rear cowl fairing behind the seats are claimed to smooth airflow over the S2000 CR. But the most over-the-top aerodynamic modification is the massive rear spoiler. The wing has three distinct horizontal surfaces: the upturned outside sections produce downforce while a flatter center section smoothes airflow over the car. The whole affair is affixed with black supports that look more like a back yard racer's weekend concoction than factory pieces, but who are we to argue if it works? Honda claims overall downforce on the rear axle at speed, a rare trait for a street car.

Weight savings and chassis

Air conditioning and the sound system are jettisoned in the name of weight savings, but you can add them back in as options. The S2000 CR also loses its power folding softtop to shed a few pounds, and in its place it gains a beefy rear strut tower brace with four mounting points. This is said to enhance the already stellar rigidity of the S2000's shell so it won't flex when cornering. A removable aluminum hardtop provides shelter from the elements and admission to tracks where open-top cars aren't allowed. With the top off, the S2000 CR will weigh approximately 2765 pounds, almost 90 pounds less than the regular S2000.

It's significantly faster on a track, according to Honda

The result of these changes is a claimed two-second reduction in the S2000 CR's lap time around Honda's Tochigi test track. That's a huge difference; you could add 50 horsepower to a regular S2000 and you might not see your lap time drop that much.

Interior modifications

Every special edition needs to look unique, so the S2000 CR has a bunch of dress up features that distinguish it. The most obvious is the Apex Blue paint, which is a pearlescent bright blue evocative of Audi's Sprint Blue. Black badges and gunmetal gray five-spoke wheels round out the exterior mods. Abundant yellow stitching on the doors, steering wheel, seats, and shifter (which has shorter throws than the already insanely short ones in the regular S2000) complements yellow woven seat inserts. Faux-suede seat bolsters and door panels replace the leather items on the regular S2000 in the name of grip, and they'll also broaden the S2000 CR's appeal to PETA members. Faux carbon fiber trim is a slavishly trendy addition, but we can forgive anything in a car this raw.

Pricing

The S2000 CR goes on sale in the fall of 2007 as a 2008 model. The car shown at the New York show isn't 100 percent production correct, but the body kit, spoiler, and wheels are accurate renditions of what you'll see in dealers. Pricing isn't confirmed, but it will certainly be more than the regular S2000's $35k base price and probably less than $40k. Given the expected production volume of less than 2000 units (no limit was confirmed), Honda will lose money on the deal, a fact that company representatives actually admit. Such corporate honesty is rare, but Honda can afford it. The S2000 CR is a fitting tribute to the man who put "Honda" and "performance" together in the popular lexicon. Let's hope it's a harbinger of more great things to come and not a last hurrah.